De-Stress
by sasuhina-fan7
Summary: Lab Series #8 It just felt so weird being in the lab without his new partner


**A/N: Here we go another addition to the lab series. Just like to those who had faved and followed them as well as me. It really gives a girl a smile. Now I hope I can put a smile on your face with this newest addition.**

**Disclaimer: Young Justice doesn't have a third season, so I don't own it. And Naruto doesn't have SasuHina as a canon pairing so there's no owning there either.**

Wally swore his face was becoming raw with how much he was rubbing it, but his nerves were too fried to care. Face red and down, Wally walked along campus with his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets; his green eyes narrowed in anger and concentration; and his shoulders tensed as a backpack containing new notebooks was over them. How the hell could everything get so crazy in only a few weeks?

Artemis had scared Hinata off, that was for sure. He hadn't seen her stop by his apartment in a while, and the two hadn't done a lab day in a while. If it wasn't for the occasional text and phone call, Wally would have thought Hinata dropped off the face of the planet. He kept trying to convince her to at least come over to help her unwind, to talk, but she always had an excuse like a test she had study for or how she wasn't exactly feeling too well. What made it worse was that he couldn't find out what dorm Hinata lived in to drop by and check in on her, so he basically had to trust her word on her condition, which wasn't much since Hinata was clearly not okay.

And his relationship with Artemis? Yeah, they were in the stages of estrangement again, and Wally didn't know if he had the strength to try and mend the bridges again. He still loved Artemis, he had given five years of his life for her, but Wally was tired and had more pressing matters to deal with than his girlfriend's jealousy. The only thing Wally could hope was for Artemis to stop her jealous triade and understand that Wally only had eyes for her while Hinata was a little sister to him. Until then, Wally was okay with sleeping on the couch as well as the silent treatments.

Reaching his destination, the science building, Wally took a deep breath of exhausted relief and entered. The experiment he and Hinata were definitely on hold since Wally was going to respect Hinata being the lead on it; however, this incident wasn't going to stop Wally from starting some smaller projects. For the past few weeks, Wally's stress levels were through the roof; and he hadn't been able to release it properly, which was starting to show. He had a hard time concentrating in his clases- Vietnamese Lit was always a hard class to focus in, but it became harder ever since he and Artemis had stopped sitting next to each other- and he actually done something none of the professors in the science department had thought possible. Wally West, proud science nerd, got a B+ on what should have been an easy quiz in genetics. When he saw the grade, he knew was out of it and needed to get his mind straight, thus him having his own private time in the lab.

Wally entered the lab, suppressing the relentless memories that came as soon as he closed the door behind him, and headed for his usual lab station. It felt weird to set everything up with the knowledge that his new partner wasn't showing up. As he put on a lab coat and google, Wally expected Hinata to show up through the door, her face red with embarrassment about arriving late but her eyes eager to get started. Every session meant discovering something, and taking one step closer to her improving the overall quality of medicinal herbs; something Wally knew would revolutionize medicine. He still had a separate copy made for Hinata, so she could start from somewhere, but she had yet to claim it; and it worried Wally more than he wanted to admit.

From what he saw when Hinata had started in this lab to what she and Wally had accomplished together, Hinata had dedicated a lot of time and energy to her research; and he didn't want her hard work to go to waste. He also missed the sessions period because he actually had someone to be just a simple nerd with. Usually that position went to Dick, but the two hadn't been able to speak with each other ever since he quit the team and Dick was made team leader. With Hinata being just a normal college girl, there were no superhero responsibilities; just a simple case of working around each other's class schedules. But now- Wally sighed as he finished setting up his lab and pulled out his notebook for the Flash formula as a reference, a fresh notebook, and pencil, he had something else to consider when it came to the sessions.

The sexual assault against Hinata was still burning in his mind, and he just wanted to find the bastards who started all of this and throw them off a building. For now, Wally had to settle for them possibly feeling the terror Hinata's feeling and wearing the blaring badge of a sex offender for the rest of their lives. Maybe, just maybe, they will admit to being assholes; but Wally doubt it.

With the bunsen burners running, Wally began with a simple procedures pertaining to his research in genetics. After a simple warm up recorded his notes, Wally properly disposed of the chemicals used and began a more advance project. As he gazed at the heating colorful liquids and gazed through the lens of a microscope, Wally felt just a a slight rush that he knew would have gotten him stuffed in a locker in high school. The stress that had been stewing for the past weeks was slowly dissolving away, and Wally couldn't help but feel relieved. For now, he was just concentrating on him; and it felt as though there was no problem in the word, except there was.

Wally groaned and shook his head before observing a bright yellow chemical being heated and taking notes. He didn't want to sound rude, but he needed to just push Artemis and Hinata away in his mind for just a few hours. Artemis needed to calm her jealousy on her own- and realize that there was nothing on between Hinata and Wally- while Wally knew he couldn't help Hinata much if his mind was all over the place. Even speedsters had their limits, and Wally was reaching his.

The private lab time went on for another few hours before the familiar sound of Wally's stomach told him it was time to call it a day. Several cheeseburgers, a large fries, and chocolate shake was a temptation that Wally was going to yield to. After cleaning his station and packing away the notes that had taken up several notebooks- something Wally knew he shouldn't be surprised about- Wally headed out of the science building and towards the bus stop.

Stepping out into the chilly air, Wally noticed the darkening sky and pulled out his phone to check the time. Instead he saw a voicemail from Artemis in which he seriously considered ignoring and just let Artemis wonder, but instead chose to send her text. Even with his frustration at how their relationship was going, Wally still loved her; and he wasn't the type to just make a girl worry out of spite.

**-I was at the lab. Now getting food-**

He managed to take a few steps before Artemis sent a reply.

**-Next time tell me. Was worried-**

Why did Wally think she was more worried about whom he was with than where?

_Because she knows you usually go out to hang out with friends, eat, or hang out in the chemistry lab. You didn't have to tell her where you're going since you both moved in together._

That voice that was always screaming at him for his fondness of Hinata had somehow switched to discrediting his girlfriend. But he had to admit it had a point. Artemis knew where Wally usually went when he wasn't home and trusted him enough to not ask questions. He didn't want to think that she no longer trusted him- although it looked like it- but Wally didn't want to think about it at all.

**-Sorry, will be home later-**

Wally sent the message and sighed. After reaching the bus stop and just sitting on the bench that felt way too cold, Wally pulled out his phone again and decided that he should at least send a text message to Hinata to check up on her. De-stressing or not, he wasn't going to go a day without making sure she was at least breathing.

**-Hey gorgeous, checking in on u-**

The time it took to reply was starting to worry Wally, but he wasn't going to get paranoid over it. One: he wasn't her boyfriend. Two: even if he was her girlfriend, Wally refused to be those boyfriends who throw accusations around if the girl doesn't reply right away. Instead, Wally was just a concerned friend who didn't like Hinata hiding herself away.

_But it sounded as though you wouldn't mind being her boyfriend._

And now the voice had went back to its usual annoying self. Wally needed to see a therapist. His phone vibrated in his hand.

**-I'm fine. Just tired-**

Hinata's more common excuse. Wally remembered enough psychology to know that this was a serious sign of PTSD.

**-Going to get food. Want me to bring u something, gogeous?- **

The bus was driving down the street and stopped in front of him. Wally was paying the fare when Hinata sent her reply.

**-No, I'm fine-**

Wally didn't believe her.

**-Alright, text me if u change ur mind gorgeous-**

As the bus was moving, Wally let out huff, knowing his relaxed mood was going down. He didn't know if he should be angry at himself or someone else for it.

**A/N: Good, bad, average? Don't leave me hanging.**


End file.
